Centered On Glory (Psalm 79:9)

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!
– Psalm 79:9

This verse is a good reminder to ultimately center all of our prayers around God, not around ourselves. Yes, part of praying is asking God for things for us or for things for others, for God’s help and God’s provision in different ways. But listen to the language of Psalm 79:9. “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name”. God, help us for your glory. “Deliver us, and atone for our sins”. Forgive us of our sins. That’s something we need God to do.

Psalm 79:9 shows how God exalts himself through salvation.

But listen to the last part of verse nine, “for your name’s sake”. These verses are a reminder that ultimately everything God does is for his own glory.

And we’ve talked about this at different points and different episodes as we’ve seen this theme that’s cover to cover in Scripture. If that rubs us wrong, that God lives to exalt himself, well, I would just ask the follow-up question, who else would you rather him exalt? You or me, or this or that? At any point, God were to exalt anyone or anything else, he would no longer be the God who is worthy of all glory. It’s what it means for him to be God.

Yet the beauty of the Bible is how God chooses to exalt himself. He exalts himself by saving sinners like you and me from our sin by sending his Son as a sacrifice on the cross for our sins, to atone for our sins. Yes, God saves us for his own glory. God leads us, provides for us, directs us, helps us, saves us for our good and ultimately his glory.

Psalm 79:9 teaches us to pray for God’s glory above all.

And so, as you and I pray for all kinds of things in our lives and others’ lives, let’s make sure to make the connection with how Jesus taught us to pray. Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your Name, for your Name’s sake. So, let’s pray accordingly.

Oh God, our Father in heaven, our Savior, our Lord, our King, hallowed be your Name in all the Earth and hallowed be your Name in our lives. Show the greatness of your Name. Show your glory, we pray, in the world and through our lives.

God, we want this more than anything else, for you to be glorified because we know, one, that you are worthy of all glory. You are God, you are Lord, you are King. God, you are Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. You are our Shepherd. You are all that your Name represents, and we want your Name to be exalted in our lives in all these ways, and in the world among all the peoples.

This verse pictures God as Savior and Redeemer of his people.

So help us, we pray today in every way we need, oh God, just as you promise to provide for everything we need. You are Jehovah Jireh, so for the glory of your Name as our Provider, help us today. God, deliver us just as you promised to deliver us. You are our Savior. That is your Name. We pray for your deliverance in our lives, for your glory. We pray that you would forgive us of our sins, for your glory as the merciful, gracious, compassionate God, slow to anger and rich in love, who cleanses us from all unrighteousness. For your Name’s sake, forgive us of our sins.

God, help us to live, and pray, and think, and desire, and work all day long today by your grace in our lives, for your glory through our lives. And God, we pray that in light of Matthew 5, you would help us to live today in a way that others might glorify your Name, others around us, and others around the world.

Prayer for the Jalbani Baloch People

God, we pray for all these people, groups who don’t know the glory of your name, Jesus. Specifically, today, for the Jalbani Baloch people. God, please, for this group of 245,000 people who have little to no followers of Jesus among them. They don’t know the glory of the Name of Jesus in their lives. They don’t know you as their Savior, as the One who alone can atone for their sins. God, we pray that the Jalbani Baloch people would be reached with the truth, and the grace, and the love, and the glory that are found in the Name of Jesus. We pray Psalm 79:9, help us, oh God, of our salvation, and every way we need today for the glory of your Name. Deliver us and atone for our sins, for your Name’s sake. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.